Applied psychophysiology and biofeedback
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Appl Psychophysiol Biofeedback · Sep 2018
Pre-service Teachers and Stress During Microteaching: An Experimental Investigation of the Effectiveness of Relaxation Training with Biofeedback on Psychological and Physiological Indices of Stress.
Pre-service teacher stress is an understudied research area, with the majority of research focusing on subjective reports of stress. The present study sought to examine the influence of stress-reduction techniques on both subjective and objective indicators of stress during microteaching in preservice teachers. A sample of 44 preservice teachers were randomly assigned to one of three intervention groups; biofeedback, relaxation, or control. ⋯ Examination of the psychological ratings identified that feelings of calm increased across time; this showed that participants were more comfortable with the microteaching situation with repeated practice. However, none of the physiological interventions were effective in reducing stress. The present study highlights practice as a useful strategy to reduce stress in microteaching situations and points to the importance of employing evidence-based interventions when attempting to reduce stress.